Apparatus for feeding cigarettes from cigarette-making machines to packing machines



Jan. 10, 1967 A. K. MCCOMBIE 3,297,138

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CIGARETTES FROM CIGARETTE-MAKING MACHINES TOPACKING MACHINES Original Filed Oct. 29, 1963 3 Sheets-$heet 1 five/mailfl/Mmmw 4 4%, way

W-MWWS Jan. 10, 1967 A. K. M COMBIE APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CIGARETTESFROM CIGARETTE-MAKING MACHINES TO PACKING MACHINES Original Filed Oct.29, 1963 5 Shee ts-Sheet 2 Jan. 10, 1967 A. K. M COMBIE 3,297,133

APPARATUS FUR FEEDING CIGARETTES FROM CIGARETTE-"MAKING MACHINES TOPACKING MACHINES Original Filed Oct. 29, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 5 W2 myIUWEIUHK fi K/WML mmag [$4,440 4/12 United States Patent Ofilice3,297,138 Patented Jan. 10, 1967 3 297 138 APPARATUS FOR FEEDINGCIGARETTES FROM CIGARETTE-MAKING MACHINES T PACKING MACHINES Alan K.McCombie, Deptford, London, England, assignor to The Molins OrganisationLimited, London, England, a British company Continuation of applicationSer. No. 319,846, Oct. 29,

1963. This application Apr. 11, 1966, Ser. No. 547,702

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Nov. 1, 1962,

41,395/ 62 16 Claims. (Cl. 198-84) This invention concerns apparatus forfeeding cigarettes from cigarette making machines to packing machines,and is a continuation of my application Serial No. 319,846, filedOctober 29, 1963, now'abandoned.

In most cigarette factories the practice is to collect cigarettes intrays from which they are fed to the packing machine but this practicerequires large numbers of trays and is also expensive in the way oflabour and trucking and takes up a great deal of floor space. It is onlyreally justifiable in cases where the manufacturer wishes to subjectcigarettes to lengthy conditioning operations and numerous proposalshave been made for feeding cigarettes more or less directly from thecigarette making machines to packing machines. Such proposals aresatisfactory where conditioning is not required.

It has been proposed to provide a reservoir in which cigarettes areaccumulated and from which they are dispensed, according to variationsin the supply and demand, and an object of the present invention is toprovide a better construction of reservoir in which the cigarettes movefrom an inlet to an outlet in the form of a mass, without substantialrelative displacement of the cigarettes, so that they are transportedwithout undue rolling, or avoidable shock and injury.

To this end the invention provides apparatus for feeding cigarettes froma cigarette making machine to a packing machine, comprising a reservoirhaving upper and lower compartments, an inlet at one end of the uppercompartment and an outlet at the corresponding end of the lowercompartment, and an extensible endless band conveyor having an upper runforming the base of the upper compartment, and a lower run forming thetop of the lower compartment and a roller about which the band turns atthe end of the upper run, a concave movable back plate forming the endof the reservoir remote from the inlet and outlet and spaced from saidroller to provide a curved passage between the compartments, and meansfor moving the back plate and the roller to and fro along the reservoirto increase or decrease the capacity of the reservoir, as p the supplyand demand for cigarettes fluctuates.

Apparatus according to the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional side elevation, shown broken,

FIGURE 2 is a plan of part of FIGURE 1, drawn to a larger scale,

FIGURE 3 is a section on the line 33, FIGURE 2, but the view is rotatedthrough 90,

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 1, showing an improvedconstruction, and

FIGURES 5 and 6 are block diagrams of driving motor and detectorarrangements.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 3 of the drawings, catcher bands 1 and 2 areshown as delivering the produce of their respective cigarette makingmachines to an endless conveyor 4. The conveyor 4 runs in the directionof the arrow A, FIGURE 1, beneath the catcher bands. In this waycigarettes are fed through an inlet 12 into a reservoir, bearing thegeneral reference R.

A flexible guide 13 is pivoted at 40 and has cross pieces 41 which actas light weights and turn any cigarettes which may have become askewduring the movement on conveyor 4, so that their axes are normal to thedirection of movement of the cigarettes. This guide also functions as adetector, as will be explained presently.

The reservoir R is divided into upper and lower compartments 42 and 43,FIGURE 1, by an endless band conveyor 44, which normally moves at auniform rate, and with the cigarettes as they pass by gravity from theupper compartment to the lower, the base of the reservoir being formedby a conveyor 6. The band 44 is supported within the reservoir by aroller 45 having a spindle which is fixed to a slide 46, for movementtherewith. Thus the band conveyor 44 is extensible the reservoir has anoutlet at 7, and a back plate 47 to provide an end to the reservoir.This plate is fixed to the slide 46, which may be formed as a trolleywith wheels 48, see also FIGURE '2. A flexible cord 49 is attached tothe slide and passes over a pulley 50 and has a weight 51, or othersuitable take-up means, attached to its other end. For instance, thecord may be pulled by a stalling electric motor, which runs to wind upcord, or permits it to unwind, when the slide is free to move inaccordance with detector signals, as explained later. The endless bandconveyor 44 also wraps around pulleys 52 and 53, which are drivingpulleys, and a take-up pulley system 54 is also provided.

The reservoir therefore comprises an upper conveyor, the belt 44, withits top run moving to the left in FIGURE 1, as indicated by the arrow,and a lower conveyor, the conveyor 6, moving to the right in FIGURE 1,with cigarettes flowing continuously from one to the other between plate47 and roller 45. The belt 44 is paid out by pulley 52 at a rateproportional to the cigarette supply while the lower conveyor 6, and thecooperating lower part of belt 44 which forms the top of the lowercompartment 43, are always driven at a speed proportional to thecigarette demand.

The outlet 7 has a conveyor 16 and between the conveyors 6 and 16 thereis a small upward sloping conveyor 55 which runs at a higher speed thanconveyor 6 and urges cigarettes onto the conveyor 16.

Conveyor 16 leads to a chute 56 at whose base is a further conveyor 57which carries cigarettes from the chute to the hopper 8 of a packingmachine, a flexible guide 58 of the same kind as guide 13 being providedto deal with any skewed cigarettes. Other chutes 59 and 60 may lead toother hoppers (not shown). A further flexible guide 61 is provided overthe chutes to straighten any skewed cigarettes and to function also as adetector to determine whether there is an excess or deficiency in theoutput from the reservoir outlet.

The operation of the apparatus so far described is as follows:

Cigarettes from the conveyor 4 enter the inlet 12 and are passed downand into the upper compartment by the conveyor 4, being guided andcontrolled by the guide 13 and a plate 70 constituting the front wall ofthe compartment 42.

In normal running the output from the several cigarette machines isentirely consumed by the packing machine,

or machines, and the parts may then be in the position shown in FIGURE1.

If, during running, a packing machine stops for any reason it isnecessary to accumulate cigarettes in the reservoir and, as the quantitytherein increases, it is necessary to move the back plate 47 fartherfrom the outlet. The pulley 53 is, therefore, stopped (if only onepacking machine is being used) so that more of the length of the band ispaid out by the pulley 52, and the slide 46 can then be drawn to theleft in FIGURE 1 by the weight 51. The lower conveyor 6 is driven by themeans which sew e drives the pulley 53, and at the same rate as thepulley 53 drives its part of band 44, and stops with the said p'ath ofthe band. The driving devices for the pulley 53 can be controlled forthis purpose by the operation of the guide 61, functioning as a detectorand raised by the local accumulation of cigarettes when the packingmachine ceases to take them, or' the control could be by any suitabledevice such as a switch on the packing machine, which is inactive whilethe machine is running, and op= erates when the machine stops. Wherethere is only one packing machine in the apparatus, there can be -adirect link between it and the pulley 53 so that 53 stops when thepacking machine stops. The necessary material for increasing the lengthof the band within the reservoir is withdrawn from the take-up pulleysystem 54, the lower rollers of the system being free to move up anddown and keep the band tight by their weight.

If a cigarette machine stops, the operations are reversed. Pulley 52 isdriven slower (or stops if there is only one cigarette machine in theapparatus) and the length of the band 44 within the reservoir is reducedand the back plate 47 moved to the right. In this case the flexiblemember 13 functions as the detector, falling as the cigarette supplyreduces. The flexible member 61 still functions as a detector, as it isstill necessary to determine whether there is an excess or shortage ofcigarettes for the packing machine. Detectors of the kind outlined arewell known and the precise arrangements do not concern the invention butsuitable arrangements are described later with reference to FIGURES and6. From the foregoing it will be seen that if conditions arise duringthe operation such that there is a difference between supply and demandthe discrepancy is automatically taken up by movement of the roller 45and plate 47 which results in a contraction or expansion in the capacityof the reservoir.

It will be observed that the extensible band conveyor 44 has to supportthe weight of a large mass of cigarettes so side supports 62, best seenin FIGURES 3, are pro vided. They are fixed to spring plates 63 whichare fiat when the supports are in the band-supporting position. As theslide 46 moves to and fro, its ends, which are shaped as shown in FIGURE2, push the supports aside, as seen in FIGURE 3, where some of thespring plates are shown bent, to permit the slide to pass. The supportscan spring in, to band-supporting position, when that end of the slidewhich is within the reservoir permits them to do As the capacity of thereservoir can be very large indeed if it is positioned under severalcatcher bands, as shown in FIGURE 1, there is enough capacity to meetall contingencies other than a very prolonged stoppage of one of themachines. Within reason, any number of cigarette machines and packingmachines may be arranged in this manner, the actual numbers depending onthe respecting outputs of the types of machine employed. The control ofthe roller 53 will be determined mainly by switching, as described laterwith reference to FIGURE 6, with additional fine control of speed by thedetector 61, if more than one packing machine is used, as stopping theroller as described for the case of a single packer is not thensuitable.

The apparatus shown permits of some conditioning of the cigarettes, ifsuch is required, as hot air or other heating means can be provided todry the cigarettes as they move along in the conveyor 4, or for thatmatter, similar arrangements can be provided at any positions betweenthe catcher bands and the hopper of the packing machine.

The apparatus also exposes the cigarettes very well for inspection.

An improved construction of the apparatus is shown in FIGURE 4. Thoseparts which are identical in structure and function with like parts inFIGURE 1 will not be described, but the drawing carries the appropriatereference numerals.

This improved construction eliminates the take-up pub ley system and theweight, or stalling motor, previously used for moving the slide 46.These improvements are effected by extending the former conveyor band 44so that it (now labelled 71) is coupled to both ends of the slide. To dothis the conveyor extends upward at the outlet end of the reservoir,passing around pressure rollers 72, pressing the band agains tthedriving pulleys 52 and 53, and then over guide pulleys 73 and, afterextending horizontally to a position beyond that catcher band which isremote from the reservoir outlet (the catcher band 2 in the exampleshown) the conveyor passes around further pulleys 74 and extendsdownward to the level of its up= per and lower runs in the reservoir andpassing around other pulleys 75, it wraps around a pulley 76 attached tothe slide 46. With this arrangement the slide moves to and fro as thedetectors 13 and 61 affect the rate of rota= tion of the pulleys 52 and53. One guide pulley 75 is pulled by a spring 90 to act as a bandtension device.

Other features of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 4 are: improvements inthe construction of the inlet 12, and an improved back platearrangement, and a rigid top to the reservoir, all these items beingdesigned to obtain a better flow of cigarettes through the reservoirs,and a flat top to the cigarette mass in the upper compartment, ofespecial value for filter-tip-cigarettes.

The endless conveyor 4 of FIGURE 1 is modified and shown as 77 and,instead of the forward sloping end of the conveyor 4 of FIGURE 1, thereis provided a short conveyor 78 passing round a roller 79, the lower runof conveyor 78 sloping upward as shown. The conveyor 78 is driven fromconveyor 71. A bridge plate 77A spans the gap between the conveyors 77and 78. Instead of the plate 70 of FIGURE 1, there is provided a Wallconsisting of a concave-curbed band 80 arranged around pulleys 81 and82, the foot of the wall being faired-olf by a small wedge 83. This band80 is also driven from conveyor 71. By this arrangement the cigarettesare caused to completely fill the space between part of the band 71,which forms the base of the upper compartment, and a rigid plate 84which forms the top of this compartment, as the mass passing around thecurve of band 80 is urged upwards by the upward sloping part of theconveyor 78.

In FIGURE 4 the detector shown at the inlet 12 is slightly differentfrom the detector 13 of FIGURE 1 so the part is marked 85.

The inner end of the conveyor 71 differs slightly from the previousconstruction and comprises a roller 86 and a bridge plate 87 to providean arrangement somewhat like the parts 78 and 79 and operating in muchthe same manner. The roller 86 is driven from the roller 45. The backplate 47 is also modified by the provision of a concave-curved band 88on its side adjacent the reservoir, this band passing around pressurerollers 89, and a driving pulley 91 on the same spindle as the pulley 76and driven by said pulley. The band is guided at its edges by sideplates (not shown) and it assumes the fully concave shape under thepressure of the cigarette mass as soon as the reservoir is filled. Smallwedges 92 lead the cigarettes into and out of the concave shape. It willbe noticed that the entry to compartment 42 is of a kind of swanneckformation and the entry to compartment 43, from 42, is of generallysimilar shape. The flow of cigarettes into the respective compartmentsis such that the compartments become completely filled and the cigarettemass moves through each compartment without substantial relativedisplacement of the cigarettes, sothat they are transported withoutavoidable shock and injury.

Referring now to FIGURE 5, the pulley 52 is driven by a DC motor 100.The supply is A.C., as indicated by the sign 101, and it is rectified ina box 102, which contains an amplifier and a rectifier. The detector 13FIGURE 1, or FIGURE 4, as the case may be, has a microsyn 103 at itspivot and this provides signals proportional to the angular position ofthe detector arm. A

signal is a speed demand signal and it is amplified in the box 102 andoperates speed control devices, contained in the box, for the mot-or100.

In FIGURE 6, the motor which drives pulley 53, its supply, and theamplifier and rectifier, are of the same kind as in FIGURE 5 but thereare further control devices. In this case, which assumes that threepacking machines are used, the packing machines each embody a switchwhich is operative when the corresponding machine is running so that themotor has three different basic speeds for one, two, or three packingmachines. The connections from the packing machines are indicated bythree arrows leading into a box 106. The detector 61 with its microsyn103 modifies these speeds for any fluctuation in the demand forcigarettes, and the motor has a tachogenerator 104 giving a feedback toan error amplifier 105. At 107 is a summing network which combinessignal feed from 103 and the error signal fed back by the generator 104and feeds the result into the amplifier in 102 where it is amplified towork the motor speed control devices.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for feeding cigarettes from a cigarette making machine to apacking machine, comprising a reservoir having upper and lowercompartments, an inlet at one end of the upper compartment and an outletat the corresponding end of the lower compartment, an extensible endlessband conveyor having an upper run forming the base of the uppercompartment, and a lower run forming the top of the lower compartmentand a roller about which the band turns at the end of the upper run, amovable back plate forming the end of the reservoir remote from theinlet and outlet and spaced from said roller to provide a passagebetween the compartments, and means for moving the back plate and theroller to and fro along the reservoir to increase or decrease thecapacity of the reservoir as the supply and demand for cigarettesfluctuates.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, including a catcher band, and aconveyor between the catcher band and the reservoir arranged to receivecigarettes from the catcher band and carry them through the inlet intothe reservoir.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising a lower band conveyor toconstitute the base of the lower compartment and means for moving thelower conveyor towards the outlet at the same rate as the lower run ofthe extensible endless band conveyor moves.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising a detector at the inlet tothe reservoir and a second detector between the outlet and the packingmachine, the first detector operating to cause the back plate to movetowards the outlet to reduce the capacity of the reservoir, if thesupply of cigarettes diminishes, and the second detector operating tocause the back plate to move away from the outlet to increase thecapacity of the reservoir, if the demand for cigarettes diminishes.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which the detectors control themovements of the back plate by controlling means for shifting theposition of the roller of the extensible endless band conveyor, which isattached to the backplate, and is caused to move by increasing orreducing the length of the endless band conveyor within the reservoir.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the extensible endless bandconveyor is partly wrapped around two spaced driving pulleys, one pulleyserving to pay out band and the other to take in band, and whichnormally rotate at equal speeds when the demand for cigarettes matchesthe supply but whose speeds are modified to pay out more band into thereservoir, or to reduce the amount of band in the reservoir according tothe increase or decrease of capacity required in the reservoir.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 comprising a takeup-pulley system topay out, or pull in conveyor band,

as required by the movements of the roller about which the extensibleendless band conveyor wraps within the reservoir.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 comprising side supports for thatportion of the extensible endless band conveyor which is within thereservoir at any time and which supports the cigarettes in the uppercompartment, said supports being attached to springs and movable intoand out of band supporting position by a slide whose ends are shaped toengage the supports and push them aside against the action of thesprings to the non-supporting position as the slide moves to and fro,that end of the slide which is within the reservoir being shaped topermit the supports to spring in beneath the band to support it.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 comprising a separate electric motorfor driving each of the spaced driving pulleys and a speed controldevice for the motor of the pulley which pays out band and operating inresponse to signals from the detector at the reservoir inlet, and aspeed control device for the motor of the pulley which takes in band andoperating in response to signals from the detector between the outletand the packing machine to regulate the pulley speed according totransient fluctuations in the supply and demand for cigarettes and afurther control device to stop the motor if the packing machine stops.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, and for use when at least twopacking machines are being supplied with cigarettes, comprising aseparate electric motor for driving each of the spaced driving pulleys,and a speed control device for the motor of the pulley which pays outband and operating in response to signals from the detector at thereservoir inlet, and a speed control device for the motor of the pulleywhich takes in band, comprising a switch on each packing machine,operative when the machine is running to control a speed control box toprovide ditferent basic speeds for the motor according to the number ofpacking machines running, and a further speed control device, operatingin response to signals from the detector between the outlet and thepacking machine, to regulate the pulley speed according to transientfluctuations in the supply and demand for cigarettes.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which the extensible endless bandconveyor is partly wrapped around the spaced pulleys and is thereaftercoupled to both ends of the slide by being carried upwards and along inthe reverse direction to the part within the reservoir and thendownwards to the level of said part and then extended to the back platewhere it passes around a roller attached to the back plate, the wholeendless conveyor being thus arranged as a substantially rectangularloop.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 comprising an endless band aroundthe back plate and conforming with the shape thereof and movable withthe cigarette mas-s as it passes from the upper compartment to thelower, and means for driving the band in the direction in which thecigarette mass is moving.

13. Article-feeding apparatus having a reservoir including an inlet andan outlet, means defining a first path along which articles are fed inone direction from the inlet, and a return path along which articles arefed in the reverse direction towards the outlet, said means including aback wall and an element extending into the reservoir to separate onepath from the other and spaced from said back wall to allow articles topass from one path to the other, and means to lengthen or shorten saidpaths by varying the position of said back wall and correspondinglyvarying the length of said element extending into the reservoir, saidlast-named means being automatically controlled in response tovariations in the rate at which articles enter the reservoir relativelyto the rate at which articles are removed from the reservoir.

14. Article-feeding apparatus having a variable-capacity reservoir whichcomprises a first compartment having an inlet and through which articlesmove in one direction,

and a second compartment communicating with the first compartment andhaving an outlet and through which articles move in the reversedirection, the apparatus further including an endless conveyor having aloop which extends into the reservoir to separate the first compartmentfrom the second compartment, said 100p having a first run forming anarticle-engaging wall of said first compartment and movable in said onedirection, and a second run forming an article-engaging wall of saidsecond compartment and movable in said reverse direction, movablesupport means about which said loop passes while reversing itsdirection, a back wall spaced from said support means and movabletherewith back and forth to expand and contract the reservoir, means todrive said first run at a speed appropriate to the rate of entry ofarticles into said first compartment, and means to drive said second runat a speed appropriate to the rate at which articles are taken from saidsecond compratment, whereby said loop is lengthened or shortened as aresult of differences between the speeds of said first run and saidsecond run, said support means and back wall being movable backwardly toexpand the reservoir during lengthening of said loop, and forwardly tocontract the reservoir during shortening of said loop.

15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the said endless convey-orhas a further loop located behind and extending towards said back wall,and comprising an element behind and connected to said back wall aboutwhich said loop passes, whereby one loop is shortened as the other islengthened and the back wall and support means are thereby movedbackwardly or forwardly.

16. Article-feeding apparatus having a reservoir through which articlesare fed, and including an endless conveyor having a loop extending intothe reservoir and dividing the latter into two compartments, guidemeans, movable to and fro within the reservoir, about which said looppasses, drive means independently driving two different parts of theconveyor and regulable to drive said different parts at different speedsthereby lengthening or shortening the loop, a movable wall constitutinga back wall of the reservoir and spaced from said guide means to as toprovide a passage for articles from one compartment to the other, saidback wall being connected to said guide means for movement therewith,means to cause movement of the back wall with said guide means as theloop lengthens or shortens, thereby increasing or reducing the capacityof the reservoir, and regulating means controlled by the rate of flow ofarticles into and out of the reservoir to regulate the speed at whichthe said different parts of the conveyor are driven by said drive means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,745,410 5/1956Molins 19837 X 2,997,828 8/1961 Ahlbor 53236 X 3,019,581 2/1962 Philipset al. 53-236 3,053,378 9/1962 Longenecker 198-139 EVON C. BLUNK,Primary Examiner.

R. J. HICKEY, Assistant Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CIGARETTES FROM A CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINE TO APACKING MACHINE, COMPRISING A RESERVOIR HAVING UPPER AND LOWERCOMPARTMENTS, AN INLET AT ONE END OF THE UPPER COMPARTMENT AND AN OUTLETAT THE CORRESPONDING END OF THE LOWER COMPARTMENT, AN EXTENSIBLE ENDLESSBAND CONVEYOR HAVING AN UPPER RUN FORMING THE BASE OF THE UPPERCOMPARTMENT, AND A LOWER RUN FORMING THE TOP OF THE LOWER COMPARTMENTAND A ROLLER ABOUT WHICH THE BAND TURNS AT THE END OF THE UPPER RUN, AMOVABLE BACK PLATE FORMING THE END OF THE RESERVOIR REMOTE FROM THEINLET AND OUTLET AND SPACED FROM SAID ROLLER TO PROVIDE A PASSAGEBETWEEN THE COMPARTMENTS, AND MEANS FOR MOVING THE BACK PLATE AND THEROLLER TO AND FRO ALONG THE RESERVOIR TO INCREASE OR DECREASE THECAPACITY OF THE RESERVOIR AS THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR CIGARETTESFLUCTUATES.